CPN - March 2009 - (Page 25) TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY PULSE From Lead to Lease Software Providers Emphasize Integration, Efficiencies in Slow 2009 By Scott Baltic he commercial real estate Charlie Pace. If a property man- the end of January, ARGUS Soft- according to president & CEO sector has traversed agement firm, for example, auto- ware Inc. became the exclusive Mark Kingston. wrenching changes in mated cleaning supply purchas- reseller of Resolve Technology’s Technology can provide a the past 12 months, and soft- es—from purchase order to elec- business-intelligence and data- competitive advantage to those ware providers are shifting their tronic cataloging to invoice pro- warehousing solureal estate companies efforts to meet customers’ cessing—it could remove 100 tion, Request, as willing to make the new priorities. percent of the paper from the well as the firm’s investment, affirmed As transaction volume sits in process, as well as save on Real Data ManageIf a property management the doldrums and more and labor costs. ment principal Peter more owners take a hold-andSeveral vendors are also firm automated cleaning Boritz. He predicted manage approach, reducing costs emphasizing electronic that companies will supply purchases—from has risen higher than ever on the payment. Tao foresees reincreasingly recogindustry’s wish list, reported a ceivables becoming more purchase order to invoice nize a return on number of software providers. electronic to reduce labor processing—it could reinvestment when And that is affecting their prodcosts and noted that elecreducing costs, such move 100 percent of the uct offerings. Also, as 2009 rolls tronic payments are simias converting hardforward, expect to see more larly attracting increased paper from the process. copy leases, which —Charlie Pace, SiteStuff Inc. emphasis on integration among interest on the accountsmight now be stored both a given vendor’s software payable side.“Longer term, in back offices, into packages and different vendors’ the industry is going electronic Portfolio Maximizer. Argus will electronic records. programs. Many products will and paperless,” he said. integrate both products with the Even so, real estate compatake a view toward the broader Sean Egan, senior vice presi- new ARGUS Enterprise investnies are cutting back on longlife cycle of a transaction. dent & general manager of ment management package. term revenue savers like techMore specifically, customers real estate property management Technology companies, hownology in favor of the short-term are focusing on a cluster of finan- for SS&C Technologies Inc., ever, are doing more than just re- bottom line. Traditionally, cial priorities lately, said Intuit noted that the company recently bundling software for their Kingston said, a commercial real Real Estate Solutions vice presi- signed an agreement with an clients. They are also taking estate company would devote dent of global product manage- electronic-payment processor to some new approaches to service. 0.75 to 1 percent of its budget ment Zhen Tao. The list includes record tenant payments in SS&C, for instance, is pushing to technology, but that number not only cost control but also rev- SS&C’s SKYLINE real estate prop- two primary efforts based on has slipped to a maximum of enue preservation, customer erty management and accounting customers’ need to be as effi- 0.75, including some as low as service and aid for the entire software cient as possible, Egan said. The 0.5 percent. process, from “lead to lease.” automatfirst is a “very aggressive training Yardi vice president of global He reported that budgeting ically. schedule” based on the simple solutions Rob Teel noted that, tools are also gainfact that many users are not maxeven more than previously, cusing more traction imizing software capabilities. In tomers need a business case or a because a manual “This year is challengmany cases, he noted, real estate clear return on investment to budgeting or re- ing for everybody a company staff members who justify technology purchases. f o r e c a s t i n g once-in-a-lifetime crisis were originally trained on the Based on feedback from cusprocess is just software might have left and tomers, Kingston estimated but also a once-in-atoo laborious, estheir replacements were never that they now desire a six- to pecially when eco- lifetime opportunity.” completely brought up to speed. 12-month payback period, at —Zhen Tao, Intuit Real Estate Solutions nomic conditions SS&C is also undertaking an most, on investments. are changing. Busiaggressive consulting initiative Still, Boritz noted, “everyness-intelligence software—such Software providers are also in the first quarter, to include a body’s continuing their mindas products that can help identi- expanding their offerings business-process review if a cusset of embracing technology in fy key industry trends and guide through integration with exist- tomer desires it. The two initiareal estate.” decisions about holding and ing software. SiteStuff, for exam- tives serve a dual purpose of “(This year) is challenging trading properties—is also ple, is working to integrate its generating revenue and helpfor everybody,” Tao said. Still, attracting interest. products with Voyager, the flag- ing clients save money in the he prefers to view this not Indeed, because the real ship product of SiteStuff parent longer term. just as “a once-in-a-lifetime crisis estate industry now puts such a Yardi Systems Inc. SS&C has Meanwhile, ARGUS Software but also a once-in-a-lifetime focus on operating assets effi- been talking to another software is developing a “furlough plan” to opportunity.” J ciently, it only makes sense to company about marketing its enable clients that have laid off For coverage of other commercial real estate business lines, wring as much waste as possible, expense- and budget-control employees to suspend those softvisit www.cpnonline.com/specialties. according to SiteStuff Inc. CEO software with SKYLINE. And at ware licenses going unused, T www.cpnonline.com • March 2009 • COMMERCIAL PROPERTY NEWS 25 http://www.cpnonline.com/specialties http://www.cpnonline.com
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